The gallery that wanted me to pay for their marketing
Had a gallery offer representation but wanted me to front the cost of their promotional materials. Anyone else run into this? Seemed off to me.
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Had a gallery offer representation but wanted me to front the cost of their promotional materials. Anyone else run into this? Seemed off to me.
Oh, Dimitra, that's a rough one. Some places try to shift all the risk onto the artist. I've heard of galleries taking a percentage, of course, that's normal. But asking you to pay for their marketing? That sounds like they're not confident in selling your work enough to invest their own money in it. It's a tough balance, finding representation, but you have to feel they're partners, not just looking for an advance. Maybe ask them what their usual commission is and how they handle marketing for other artists they represent? You deserve to have them believe in you enough to put their own resources behind it. Keep looking, kalí mou.
This is indeed a tricky situation, ji. My own experience with cooperatives in Bihar is that they take a small share, but they also put their effort into finding buyers. This gallery seems to want you to take all the risk yourself. A partner should invest in your success, not ask you to pay for their own work.
That's what I thought. A partner puts their own capital in. Asking me to fund their operations before they've even sold anything is bad business. Did your co-ops have a track record?
Exactly. Percentage makes sense, that's their business model. But asking me to pay upfront for marketing feels like they're not sure they can move the work. I pushed back and asked about their standard commission and how they promote. Waiting to hear back. Thanks for the input.